Willis has appointed James Gillespie (pictured above) as head of data & analytics for its global direct & facultative specialty team. Gillespie will oversee the development of new products, utilizing data from Willis’ proprietary sources, including its Broking Platform.
Gillespie previously led pricing at Aon and RPC Tyche, managing international teams and supporting clients in both direct and reinsurance markets. He brings more than 15 years of experience in the insurance sector to his new position.
In his new role, Gillespie is expected to broaden Willis’ client and product offerings by leveraging data insights to support risk decision-making. He will also work to provide Willis brokers with tools to bring new products to market.
For cedant clients, Gillespie will deliver modeling insights and develop risk quantification and pricing tools designed to help underwrite new and emerging risks.
Gillespie will report directly to Gaughan, global head of direct & facultative. The company said the appointment aligns with its strategy to strengthen its data and analytics capabilities and support clients in navigating evolving risk landscapes.
“His industry expertise and specialized knowledge will help to drive outstanding client solutions and service, as well as fast tracking our focus on data and digitalization that will enable our brokers to deliver the next generation of risk transfer solutions to both our direct and cedant clients,” Gaughan said.
Elsewhere, Willis also recently launched its Global Risk Engineering team as part of its Global Risk & Analytics operations. This team, comprising nearly 200 risk engineers across 30 countries, is tasked with delivering risk assessments at both single-site and portfolio levels.
In addition to these developments, WTW has made several notable appointments in its Insurance Consulting & Technology (ICT) business. In August, Nicholas Carbo was named senior director, focusing on annuity product development, pricing, modeling, and M&A activity.
This appointment is part of a broader leadership refresh in the ICT division, which also saw the addition of Gary Finkelstein, Poojan Shah, and Erika Dochney in senior roles.
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